Home From the Vet, Baxter is Slowly Recovering

March 15, 2013

Two days ago, we got a little concerned about Baxter. The night before, she was refusing to take her medication and then the following morning… she lost all interest in food, completely. Normally, she comes bounding over when I show up with breakfast, but that morning she remained on the second floor of the bunny cottage (where she usually goes, if she’s not feeling well).

When I looked in on her, I noticed that the area underneath her was all wet. Turns out, she had gone to the bathroom in the spot she had been sitting all night. Not a good sign.

So we ended up taking her in to the vet later in the AM. She had been in stasis a few weeks ago (where the GI tract basically stops processing things) but had recovered. After an exam and some x-rays, the vet determined that something was going on in Baxter’s stomach – there was a lot of liquid built-up, and that was causing her a great deal of discomfort.

After some discussion, we opted to keep Baxter at the vet’s for 24 hours. While there, they made sure she was hydrated and gave her meds via injection (since her stomach wouldn’t have done a good job of absorbing everything). By the next day, though she wasn’t back to 100%… she had begun eating again. And the vets felt comfortable enough to let us take her home.

Baxter, back home after 24 hours away.

I have to say – it was very difficult having Baxter away for so long. We knew she was getting taken care of, but it was hard nonetheless.

Poor Quincy. He’s normally a pretty upbeat guy, but the whole time Baxter was away I could literally see how despondent he was. I could tell he was feeling down and missing her. It was really sad.

Baxter, back up at her cottage. She’s been down a few times, but still has retreated here since her return.

Baxter, eating dinner last night.

This AM, Baxter only ate a little bit of her food. She did hop around the apartment a good deal, which was a promising sign… but we’ll need to keep an eye on her to ensure she keeps eating. Baxter normally just loves her food, so it’s distressing to see her be so indifferent to her meals.

Still, she’s improved since we got her home albeit slowly. We’re glad to have the weekend coming up here, so we can keep an eye on her these next few days.